Psalm 118
1O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: because his mercy endureth for ever.
2Let Israel now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
3Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
4Let them now that fear the LORD say, that his mercy endureth for ever.
5I called upon the LORD in distress: the LORD answered me, and set me in a large place.
6The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?
7The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me.
8It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
9It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
10All nations compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD will I destroy them.
11They compassed me about; yea, they compassed me about: but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
12They compassed me about like bees: they are quenched as the fire of thorns: for in the name of the LORD I will destroy them.
13Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall: but the LORD helped me.
14The LORD is my strength and song, and is become my salvation.
15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righteous: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
16The right hand of the LORD is exalted: the right hand of the LORD doeth valiantly.
17I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
18The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them, and I will praise the LORD:
20This gate of the LORD, into which the righteous shall enter.
21I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation.
22The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
23This is the LORD's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
24This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
25Save now, I beseech thee, O LORD: O LORD, I beseech thee, send now prosperity.
26Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
27God is the LORD, which hath shewed us light: bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar.
28Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, I will exalt thee.
29O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
Chapter 118
I think by expressing thanks towards God, His goodness is made known when I talk about the things He's done in my life (v. 1). In the past, in Bible study groups, I have talked about how God's helped me out on test I did in school, by saying that He provided me with wisdom and knowledge to help me out. I did study for my tests, yes, and I plan to in the future, but the point is that God helped me to apply what I studied. I'd say that He helped me as an expression of His love towards me, which is what I get out of "his mercy endureth for ever." Even though, I was kind of stressed out about algebra tests at times, God's love what was kept me going because I knew that He didn't want me to fail. I got mostly Cs on my tests and quizzes and math, which I saw as part of God's will because He knew my strengths and weaknesses in math and He knew how I would do, which I could trust in Him for. If He didn't have a plan for my life, He would have expressed that by not being there for me during my math tests and not caring. But because He cares, He's always there for me and He'll me out even with something as small as a quiz. I am thankful for the experiences in my algebra class, in terms of trusting in the Lord for my test and quizzes because I think they helped to strength my faith in Him. Not that my faith was weak to begin with, but it illustrated that I can trust God even with something small. I am not required to trust in Him just for something like my darkest moment. If I was only to able to trust Him during those times, I'd feel abandoned. And I can say that His mercy (or love) does endure forever (v. 4), as a result of whatever God does in my life, as the Israelites (v. 2) and the house of Aaron said (v. 3). During my darkest moment, I did call upon Him in my distress (v. 5). He did answer me, as I've talked about before. What "and set me in a large place" means to me is that He delivered me from my darkest moment. How I would relate to verse 6 is that, in my darkest moment, I knew He was on my side when He took care of the enemy and no longer had to worry about the enemy trying to make things worse for me in terms of trying to get me to believe his lies. What verse 8 means to me is that man could disappoint me in terms of trust and not live up to my expectations. I haven't met any princes, but what I said about verse 8 applies as well. During my darkest moment, I could only place my trust in God because I knew that He was the only one could help me out. He helped me out as a result of my crying out to Him and as a result of others praying for me, which is what I'm getting at in terms of how those verses tie in. I am a strong believer in the power of prayer and it's made a difference in my life as well as in the lives of others when they had stuff goin' on. I can't say I've been compassed about (or surrounded) by nations (v. 10), but I will say that in my darkest moment, I felt that God could only provide me with a way out from the enemy, so I guess in a way, I was surrounded by him because only God could help me. That's what I get out of the "but in the name of the LORD I will destroy them" part. I didn't literally destroy the enemy, but crying out to Him was what helped get the enemy off my back. That also applies to verses 11-12, so I don't feel it's necessary to add to those. The enemy tried to make me fall by trying to get me to give into his lies, but the Lord gave me wisdom not to (v. 13), which was what helped me out. His wisdom provides clarity, which I'm thankful for. He does provide strength and I will continue to depend on Him for that (v. 14). I praise Him for being my strength because I know He'll never give up on me and I feel that He proved that during my darkest moment by displaying that He'll take care of the enemy and protect me from his influence even when I'm at a low point. Verse 15 reminds that I can praise (and should) praise God for all the good things He does in my life. He saved me from the enemy during my darkest moment, which I praise Him for. I also praise Him for His helping me out on math tests and being there for me. His hand works in so many great ways and without it, I wouldn't have that hope that He can work valiantly. That also relates to verse 16. I'm not sure how'd I'd relate to verses 17-18, but what verse 19 means to me is that when I'm in His presence, I express thanks to Him, even for the little things in life. I don't have much to add to verse 20 since it pretty much speaks for itself.
Verse 21 reminds me of when I first became a Christian because when I called on Him, He did become my salvation and I thankful that He saved me at a young age from a lifestyle of sin and lust. I like Matthew Henry's thoughts on verse 22, " 2. His exaltation; he is the chief Cornerstone in the foundation. He is the chief Top-stone, in whom the building is completed, who must, in all things, have the pre-eminence." Yes, Christ is my Cornerstone and I am thankful that I can build my foundation upon Him and His Word. And I thankful that God provided a Cornerstone for me, which is how verse 23 fits in. I try and thank God for the days He provides (v. 24), especially because a new day isn't promised. Perhaps I should try and do that more often. I'm not sure how I'd relate to verse 25, but what verse 26 means to me is that if I come in His name to experience Him -- in church or a Bible study or what have you -- I will be blessed. There's been times, where after a Bible study, I felt encouraged by God's Word, which was the blessing because illustrated that God's Spirit was at work and had something to reveal to me. I can't recall a time, but it's something to think about it. I guess whenever I read His Word in general, I come out of it feeling blessed, especically if it's something reminding me of God's love. My pastor's been doing a message series on faith and there's a been a time or two where I've been blessed after hearing a sermon. I think that had to do providing clarity with was preached on it so I could apply to my life. And when I apply the Word to my life and live it out, God is glorified in that. He is my light (v. 27) and He was during my darkest moment. He is my God and I am thankful that I can have a relationship with Him and I praise Him for being a personal God (v. 28). See my thoughts on verse 1 since verse 29 is the same thing,
Source used:
Henry, Matthew. "Concise Commentary on Psalms 118". "Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
on the Whole Bible". <http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/mhc-con/view.cgi?book=ps&chapter=118>.
No comments:
Post a Comment